Jeremy Gillies

Most con­tro­ver­sial of all is a sub­stance called Mega Pur­ple. This is (sup­pos­edly) fre­quently used in Cal­i­for­nia to add colour to wines, as well as a lit­tle sweet­ness, and has caused quite a stir – per­haps, in part, because of the name … Grape juice con­cen­trate is made by con­cen­trat­ing unfer­mented grape juice, typ­i­cally by boil­ing it in a par­tial vac­uum, which low­ers the boil­ing point to a tem­per­a­ture where the flavours aren’t com­pletely cooked. It’s then added to wines that have already fer­mented to dry­ness at the blend­ing stage.

I wouldn’t use a dish­washer for wine glasses. I’d also avoid turn­ing them upside down on a cloth to dry them: this can make the rim a bit smelly. It’s really worth the effort of wash­ing glasses well before you put them away, because then you can use them with­out wor­ry­ing about whether they are going to be smelly or not. If you are in doubt about a glass, a quick rinse with wine primes the glass nicely.